


Nephew

by VolxdoSioda



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, older work - finished, prompt: lint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 13:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22901332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolxdoSioda/pseuds/VolxdoSioda
Summary: Dante examines the list of things Nero has to call his own, and decides to add something to that tiny pile.
Relationships: Dante & Nero (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 56





	Nephew

**Author's Note:**

> This is an older work written 12/14/2016, and posted here for posterity. It will not be updated.

Dante stands in Nero’s kitchen, and feels a queer sense of déjà vu rock him.

The place is tiny. Almost disgustingly so. There’s barely enough room for Dante to walk forward without his hips brushing the counters on either side. A mini-fridge is squeezed into one corner of the place, to the right of the window. There’s a stack of empty fast food cartons in the corner of one counter - looks to be Chinese takeout and some old bags for fried chicken - and two empty gallons of milk in the other. The counters, despite the trash, are neat and smell faintly of soap. The floor is clean too, and that’s somewhat encouraging considering Nero apparently sleeps there.

The blankets are folded up beneath the window, and there’s no sign of any kind of pillow. Dante can smell the kid’s scent all over them, hints of gun smoke and oil, thyme and pepper and a thousand tiny other little things Nero carries with him wherever he goes.

Nero doesn’t know he’s here, but that’s the way Dante prefers these kinds of things. It’s the same way he drops in to check on Patty, even after all these years. Unexpected visits are the best kind because then he can see everything that people might want to otherwise hide. Nero doesn’t even have enough room to hide a dust bunny from him, let alone any dark secrets, but the point remains that Dante came here because he knew Nero would be gone, and it would give him time to examine just what his little baby nephew is doing with his life.

_Nephew. _Even now, that word makes something in Dante’s chest tighten and growl possessively. It means his brother was - and possibly still _is _alive out there, somewhere. Nero doesn’t know about their connection, and Dante doesn’t plan for him to. Nero is wild at heart, a natural Sparda if ever he saw one. Destined to walk his own path, never accepting help until absolutely necessary. It reminds the older man of his own adventures as a misbegotten youth.

Vergil’s death was a mistake that still haunts him now. Not to the degree it once did, but thinking back on those wayward years makes him wish he knew then what he knows now. But Nero’s existence means that he has a chance to make up for that mistake. He does wonder why Vergil dropped Nero on the steps of Fortuna, instead of on Dante’s shop - its not like the bastard didn’t know where it was. And it wouldn’t exactly have been a mystery, if a baby with pale skin, white hair and those same icy blue eyes showed up on his doorstep.

But maybe that was the point, Dante concedes. Vergil didn’t want Dante to know he was still alive, that he’d gone and had a son, and that the son wouldn’t even know who his parents were. He wanted the anonymity, the gap between them to remain the same. Perhaps one day they’ll cross paths again, but for now Vergil is past and Nero is present, and Dante has quite a few issues with the present.

Namely the fact that Nero calls this tiny little rat’s nest home, that he sleeps on the floor and eats takeout, and isn’t trusted enough anywhere in Fortuna to be able to afford a better life. He has the girl - Kyrie, was it? - and that’s nice, but its still miles below where he should be. Dante’s not one for sympathy and pity - he understands the desire to claw his way out of whatever problem he’s gotten himself into.

But at the same time, this issue wasn’t started by Nero. It was started by Vergil, and by the townspeople, who even after being given _proof _that their Savior was a power-hungry bastard, look at Nero like he’s a viper waiting to strike. Dante is the only one of the brothers left now, and Nero is _his nephew. _Even if he hates his fucking old man and his _stupid _fucking brother, he can’t deny that Nero sure as fuck doesn’t deserve this.

So he’s going to do something about it. Or rather, he’s going to lay down some bait and let _Nero _do something about it. Because the kid, for all the teasing that Dante gives, is pretty sharp. Sharp enough to survive among the intolerant humans, sharp enough to survive Sanctus and his bullshit, and sharp enough to charm _Dante _of all people.

Lady’s gotten an uptick in jobs lately. There’s some pretty nasty demons still hanging around the cities, and plenty of people are scared. By himself, Nero would never be called to help, or if he was, he wouldn’t be paid properly. But Lady and Trish run a mean outfit, and one or the other always makes sure that the client pays up.

Dante can’t drag Nero into _Devil May Cry. _But he can coax the kid into thinking about possibly joining of his own volition, or even just popping by now and again to accept missions. That alone would soothe the older devil’s concerns. And the devil in him _is _concerned, muttering nonstop about blood needing to be close to the nest, about kin being tossed out like trash, and about how he needs to give his brood-brother several sharp smacks across the face with his sword when he finds him for leaving his offspring to fend for himself without at least letting him find his feet first.

Devils aren’t the best parents, but the Sparda line is more than just devil.

So Dante lays the sticky note down on the kid’s bedding, brushing a bit of lint off the thing as he does so, takes one more whiff of his nephew’s scent for the road, and tells himself it’ll resolve itself.

And if not, _then _Dante can drag the kid into the fold, kicking and screaming all the way.


End file.
